


What Happened

by Sylv



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-03
Updated: 2012-12-03
Packaged: 2017-11-20 04:59:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/581546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sylv/pseuds/Sylv
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How they were before, how they became what they are, and what specific event lead to that change. [Zuko and Azula sibling fic.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	What Happened

"Zuzu!" Azula would run up to her brother as well as she could at age two. Her golden eyes would sparkle with innocence and she would giggle, hug him, and try to tackle him onto the ground.

Zuko would laugh and allow her to topple him over, and they would both lie on the ground, chuckling until they could no longer breathe. Then the two of them would sit up, and perhaps start a tickle fight, or maybe just hold each other close.

Because their perception of the world was so different than when they would be older. A two year old and a four year old would sit there, just hugging each other tightly, never wanting to let go.

As young children, the way they saw the world would not be tainted by prejudice, or influenced so much by their parents yet. And when they were young, they knew that their life was not good. They would not grow up the way a healthy child needed to.

Azula would look at the soldiers, not as soldiers, but she would point to them and say, "man". Then she would point to her father and repeat, "man". Her brother was a boy, and her mother was a woman. She was a girl. There was no difference.

Zuko would sit with his younger sister and point things out to her. "That's fire, Azula!" he would cry when a firebender in their father's army executed a particularly advanced move in front of the siblings. Azula would laugh and clap and repeat it back to him, "Fire!"

Running in the gardens was not a foreign game to either of them, and they would often do it, playing with each other and any imaginary friends that they could think up. They would talk, and run and climb trees, and anything else that either of them suggested. All were good ideas.

The pond was where they would lie, exhausted, after a particularly intense game of "I-bet-you-can't-find-me". They would lie on their backs, staring up at the blue sky and watch white clouds drift across it. The water would lap at their free toes, tickling them and teasing them with the coolness.

The hallways were passages and mazes that they would try to find their way through. They would take turns being the heroic saviors who would come a rescue their sibling from imminent danger such as the laundry-monster, or the bedtime-maker. The other would be eternally grateful, and together they would defeat the horrifying danger.

Everything was something new to explore. Beds were for jumping, vases were for throwing, dirt was for putting on your clothes, water was for splashing, and when you could get away with it, fire was for watching, not bending, never bending.

Those were their days; the days that would make them laugh, and be happy and love the life that they lived. But those days weren't the only things that happened in their life, and because their vision was so clear, it was surprisingly easy to see the other parts of their great lives.

Those fun sunlight hours were interrupted by moments where the two would cuddle close and just sit there, staring out at something but not really seeing it. They would huddle as two little children, close as they could, because each other were the only constant things in their world.

The terrifying times were at night, when there would be thunderstorms, or the boogey man would come to get them, or the googly-eyed monster would be waiting in their closet for them to go to sleep.

Then they found comfort in each other, running into their rooms and whispering words of comfort, usually ending with both of them falling asleep in each other's beds, or Zuko confronting the monster and scaring it into going away.

As they grew older, their games didn't change. They still only played with each other, and weren't around their parents too often. Their ways of looking at each other didn't change either.

But at night, at night there were those awful times when they would hear or see something that they really wished they hadn't experienced. It made them need to grow up rather more quickly than a normal child would have to.

There was one night when the siblings were walking throughout the palace together, not really knowing where they were going. They stopped and realized that they were outside the soldiers' barracks, and stopped to listen.

Inside there was a soft whimpering, and the raucous laughter of many men. Cracking open the door, an abominable scene met the young children's eyes.

The smell of beer bombarded their senses, making them want to gag. On the floor was a woman, half undressed. Her hair was mussed and her clothes were rumpled. The beautiful brown of her eyes was puffy and red from the crying that she must have been doing before. She was bleeding from several places, and bruises colorfully decorated her body.

She clutched her bra to her, as her shirt was lying ripped in shreds in a corner of the room. Her pants weren't in such bad condition, but they too had tears in them and she protectively held them up with one hand.

"C'm'on," slurred one soldier, drunkenly wobbling up to her. She tried to scoot away from him, a look of absolute terror on her face. She couldn't have been more than twenty years old.

"I though' thi' wa' yer job," he told her, bending down and trying to focus on her with unsteady eyes. "Don' you wan' sum?"

She shook her head uncontrollably, clutching her clothes even closer. The men laughed again, and they surrounded her.

Zuko had had enough. He shut the door with a snap. The last thing they heard was someone in there shouting, "Who wants ta go firs'?"

The young child led his sister away from there. One glance at her face told him that he had gotten her away just in time. It looked as though she couldn't make up her mind whether to faint, vomit, or run screaming through their home.

Zuko wasn't in much better condition. He could feel himself shaking, and took a few deep breaths, trying to be strong for Azula. "Come on," he whispered, and walked her back to her room, even tucking her in as kindly as he could.

It was on another one of these nighttime strolls that the two got to map out just how perfect their family was; even if they didn't know that any other families were different, because they didn't have anyone to compare them to.

"I don't know why you think that you can get away with this. He's your father! Don't you have any feelings at all?" that was their mother's voice, and she was half-shouting.

Their father actually was shouting. "Don't meddle in things that you don't know about, Ursa! You've been hampering my success for longer than is needed now. Just stay out of my way, I know what I'm doing,"

"Don't try to give me any of that, Ozai! I've been living at court my whole life, and this is not the way to go! You would need to get rid of Iroh too, and he is your older brother. Have you no heart?!" she asked, her voice rising to match her husband's.

"Ursa, I know what I'm doing," he didn't add any more. Ursa, however, had plenty more to say.

"And you can't do this our children! Zuko, your heir, he can't live like this. Our children aren't blind, they know what's happening. I wouldn't be surprised if by tomorrow they know exactly what we're talking about now. And Azula! She's even younger, and she would be hurt even more! If you can't feel for your family, think about your line!"

There was a pause. Ozai told her in an angry and stiff voice, "This is right. Zuko is already a lost cause. Perhaps I can change our daughter. You just stay out of this whole affair. If we do things my way, we'll have the world in a matter of years."

"This isn't the right way!" their mother still protested. "I don't think you understand-!"

"I don't understand!?" Their father's voice rose again, until he was shouting like a madman. "I understand better than you do! Don't you dare ever talk back to me again, woman!" there was a sharp crack and a gasp of pain.

Azula's eyes were wide, much like they had been when she and Zuko had seen the young woman. The prince looked much the same way. They had both jumped when they heard their mother being hit. This time it was Azula who pulled Zuko away.

A few silent tears made their way down her face, and Zuko half-hugged her while walking. They kept quiet, and didn't talk, but tried not to think about what they had just witnessed. How long had that been going on?

And again, Zuko put Azula to bed and gave her another hug, just for good measure. He then turned and went to his own room.

By now, one was being favored more than the other by the parents. The two would be playing, and a servant would come and call "Princess Azula," away to see their father. Then Zuko would retreat to their mother, who was always happy to see him and willing to be with him.

There was a time when Azula was four years old, and Ozai decided to take a much faster, stronger, and imprinting way to her education, as he had already labeled Zuko as a hopeless case. He would make Azula what she needed to be before she was corrupted too.

There was one incident that was forever branded in both of their minds, and that made Ozai make this decision final.

"Azula, what is this?" he asked, taking the little children approach to what he was trying to get at. He could be patient for his favorite child sometimes. Besides, he had just received word that another Earth Kingdom city had been overtaken, and he was in a good mood.

"A map!" she told him, smiling. She ran her still slightly pudgy hands over the smooth surface, loving the feeling of the smooth paper underneath her palms.

He gave no sign that she had been correct, but because he didn't say anything, Azula knew that she had gotten it right. It was just the way her father was. "And what is this, Azula?"

"That's water!" she told him, pointing at the same place he was on the map. Ozai dived into what he had been trying to get at this whole "lesson".

"What nation is this, Azula?" he pointed to the Fire Nation, colored in bright red on one side of the map. Parts of the world that had been conquered were marked with a white spot.

Azula glanced up at her father, a confused look on her face. Ozai was distinctly ruffled by this, and thinking that she obviously wasn't getting this whole "nation concept", pointed to the Northern Water Tribe. "What's this nation?" his voice was sharper now.

Azula didn't hear that. She was now looking at her father as though he was crazy, and laughed a little bit. "Silly Daddy, a nation is a nation!" she giggled some more, finding it funny that her father did not know this.

This was not the answer that the Fire Lord wanted. He rose up, and the flames around his throne roared higher. He stared down at his young daughter, whose face had gone from amused to terrified in a matter of seconds.

"The nations are not the same! The Fire Nation is stronger, and we are meant to be the rulers of this world! Every other nation is weak and vulnerable, ours for the taking! You  _never_  say that to me again!" his face was shadowed with fury, and his voice was loud, pounding angrily on Azula's ear drums.

Her eyes were wide with fright, and she nodded dumbly at what he was saying. This angered Ozai even more. "Fear is weak!" he raged. And with that he backhanded her, sending his young daughter sprawling over the floor.

Azula was too shocked to even cry. She just lay there, looking up at her father and trying to erase all the fear from her face. Ozai stared at her and turned, marching back up to his throne and settling down there as though he had done nothing at all.

"Dismissed," his voice was still dark with outrage, contrary to his body language. Azula took this to heart and scampered out of the room like a mouse. She kept running, not knowing where her feet were taking her.

She ran into something hard and drew back, cowering from the person. Her eyes were closed, and she scrunched her face up, trying to stay away from whoever she had just bumped into.

When that person grabbed her wrists, she panicked, kicking and punching with all her might. "Azula!" she heard a familiar voice say. There was a grunt as she kicked him- hard. "Azula, it's me, Zuko!"

The princess opened her eyes and peered up at her older brother whose expression was one of horror. He was staring at the right side of her face, where their father had slapped her, and undoubtedly there was a bruise there now.

She hung her head down low in shame, and refused to look up when her brother commanded her to. So he put two fingers underneath her chin and raised her face. She didn't resist.

"Oh  _gods,_ " he whispered, taking a half step back. "Azula, what happened?"

And now that the shock had worn off, Azula began sobbing. She collapsed onto her brother, hugging him tightly, her nails biting into his back. Normally he would complain about this, but Zuko could tell that this was not the time.

"Azula, Azula tell me what happened!" he put his arms around her and whispered in her ear. But Azula only shook her head and sniffled, trying to stifle the tears that were still coming.

"Who did this to you?" Another shake of the head.

Zuko frowned, exasperated. "I can't help you if you won't tell me anything about what happened!" he told her, annoyance clear in his voice. Azula flinched and Zuko realized his mistake.

"I'm sorry," he told her, breath hot on her ear.

And the two of them just sat there, underneath the shade of their favorite cherry blossom tree, out of sight of everybody who passed, not talking, just breathing in sync. It was what Azula needed.

It was after this mysterious event that Zuko started noticing the change in his little sister. She used to be the perfect sibling, playing with him, telling him that she would rather be with him than anyone else, sharing everything with him. But now that all seemed to be changing.

Azula would no longer want to be with him. She was spending much more time with their father, and each time she would come back with battles memorized, new firebending moves mastered and a smug look on her face. She was perfect, but not in the way that Zuko wanted her to be. Not in the way he  _needed_  her to be.

The young girl also started spouting things like the only feelings that weren't weak that you could feel were rage and hate. Azula took this to heart, and started to become cold. Zuko didn't like his new sister, and started spending more and more time with their mother, who didn't mind at all.

The princess also got two new friends. Mai and Ty Lee, two girls her age who had lived at court their whole lives. Both were from noble families, and Azula was with them almost all the time, when she wasn't with Ozai. Azula was good at choosing her allies. Both had some talents that could be put to use when needed.

Zuko also noticed the Azula was very two-faced. She was sweet and innocent to get things she wanted, but could be insulting, heartless, and even cruel at other times. The prince never made the connection that this had sprouted from her channeling everything into rage.

A great, dark abyss began to grow between the siblings, and the memories of each other, the only thing that they had in their lives of turmoil and uncertainty faded away, and all they could remember was how they hated the other.

And that was a sad thing.


End file.
